Farm Fresh was started when people started working together to develop a neighborhood grocery store in 1957 with world class service. The name 'Farm Fresh' was chosen from entries submitted by local residents. Farm Fresh merged with competitor Giant Open Air Markets in 1986. After that merger, Farm Fresh added the arch in its logo that Giant Open Air used at its stores. In March 1998, Farm Fresh was purchased by Richfood Holdings, Inc., which also owned Shoppers Food & Pharmacy. In August 1999, Richfood Holdings was purchased by SuperValu Inc. Also, in the late 1980's, Farm Fresh purchased Lou Smith Supermarkets, which had a strong presence on the peninsula and Gloucester areas. In 1997, Farm Fresh made local headlines due to financial problems, which led to filing of bankruptcy. The company would have closed but the purchase by Richfood (Farm Fresh's biggest vendor) kept the company alive. Richfood was bought by SuperValu a year later. On November 4, 2009, longtime executive Gene Walters died at the age of 86. Farm Fresh president Ron Dennis retired and was replaced by Gaelo de la Fuente, vice president of retail operations support for SuperValu Inc., as of March 10, 2010. [1]
On September 11, 2012, Gaelo de la Fuente retired as President "to pursue other interests". Bill Parker, senior vice president of merchandising for Farm Fresh, took over as interim president as of September 15, 2012, and was promoted to President on March 4, 2013.
